iPhone 5 orders at 15M for Verizon, AT&T and possibly Sprint?

Early this year we first heard of speculation that the next iPhone will not be available until later this year, which was further confirmed by no news of the device at last month’s WWDC event. Today we have news of rumors that there are iPhone 5 orders at 15m for Verizon, AT&T and possibly Sprint.

Josh Ong of AppleInsider is reporting that Pegatron is rumored to have been contracted by Apple to produce 15 million handsets with shipping sometime in September. The source of the rumors is DigiTimes who have predicted manufacturing contracts correctly before.

Pegatron managed to expand its facilities in Shanghai and employ new workers, thanks largely to the orders for the version of the iPhone 4 for Verizon. Earlier this year sources had indicated that the company has received orders of ten million units for the next version of the iPhone.

This rumored increase in unit numbers ordered by Apple could be down to the record sales of the iPhone during the last quarter. Sales climbed massively during the first quarter of 2011 to reach 18.65 units, but many believe this to drop off during the summer as consumers wait for the next version to be released.

Pegatron stock went up over three percent with these rumors, its biggest gain in almost a month. Foxconn has been Apple’s largest contracted manufacturer, but Pegatron has allegedly secured several big contracts from Apple recently. There are reports the company is looking to secure orders for making Apple’s iPad and MacBooks.

Meanwhile a prototype version of the current iPhone has turned up on internet auction site eBay. According to AppleInsider the listing is due to expire on July 11, and states the serial number on the device is not valid when put on Apple’s website. It has DF1692 on the bottom right corner and is said to be a unique code so Apple can keep track of the device because it will belong to a particular employee.

There is a rumor the device is similar to the one that famously appeared on the Gizmodo website last year. It is not the same as the retail version internally, but it is not known what has changed. Maybe whoever has the device no longer works for Apple, as they wouldn’t be too pleased about a pre-release version of the iPhone 4 turning up for the public to get their hands on it. The listing has since been removed, so maybe Apple’s lawyers got involved.